ESL Chapter 45

“I can bring them in if you wish.”

Lea, lost in thought inside the carriage heading toward the ducal estate, turned her head at Ian’s voice and looked at him. Then she shook her head.

“It’s alright, Ian.”

She knew who Ian was offering to bring in. And she knew he could do it without being detected by them. But without knowing Berchel’s situation, she couldn’t afford to make any hasty moves.

Last time too, there were shadows following him…

Berchel had said they were people assigned by the organization he belonged to for surveillance purposes. He had said it alongside the news that Luciel was in a difficult situation.

The missing Berchel and those watching him… Come to think of it, she realized that despite having continuously received help from them all this time, she didn’t actually know much about them at all.

I suddenly feel bad about that…

She recalled the image of Berchel, the last time she’d seen him, offering her tea. She had given him a magical artifact made by Abel, calling it a lucky charm, telling him to use it in emergencies — but she couldn’t help worrying all the same. Lost in her thoughts, Lea came back to her senses at Ian’s voice.

“My lady, we have arrived at the ducal estate.”

Lea took Ian’s hand and stepped down from the carriage, asking him as she did something she had been turning over in her mind.

“…Ian. Could you send a carrier pigeon to Uncle MacLean? Tell him I’d like to see him briefly if he has the time.”

“Understood.”

Lea watched Ian’s retreating figure for a moment as he went to carry out her request, then made her way into the mansion. She had changed out of her going-out clothes into a simple blue dress and was reading in the study when she looked up at Jerome’s voice.

“My lady. MacLean is here requesting to see you.”

Has that much time already passed? Lea glanced out the window. The sky was painted with the colors of sunset. It seemed that at least two or three hours had passed since she’d asked Ian to summon MacLean.

He came sooner than I expected.

Lea closed the book she had been reading and descended to the parlor with Jerome. As she came down the stairs, MacLean, who had been seated on the sofa, rose and bowed his head in greeting.

“It has been a while, my lady.”

“Have you been well?”

“All thanks to you, my lady.”

MacLean looked at Lea with an expression full of renewed feeling. Had it not been for her, the intelligence division of Duke Kaien’s household might have remained shackled and eventually disbanded. Not only had she secured his livelihood, but the Duke was also considering having her inherit the dukedom. That naturally made her another master to him.

I shall be loyal unto the next generation…

He reaffirmed this in his heart as he sat down on the sofa at her invitation.

“But what has prompted you to call for me?”

At MacLean’s question, Lea raised her head and looked at him as she asked:

“Have you ever heard the name… Luciel, from the Kingdom of Hamel?”

“Luciel of the Kingdom of Hamel… Luciel… Luciel…”

Luciel… I’ve heard that name somewhere before… MacLean began tracing back through the information stored in his mind one by one, and eventually recalled where he had heard that name. At the same moment, his expression turned grave.

“My lady, might it be not Luciel of Hamel, but Luciel of the Kingdom of Teor?”

“The Kingdom of Teor?”

“Yes. In the Kingdom of Teor, there is a ducal house called Mihael. They are the true rulers of Teor. There is a king, but you may think of him as a puppet controlled by the ducal house. As the Kingdom of Hamel is a vassal state of the Kingdom of Teor, the Mihael ducal house effectively controls not only Teor but Hamel as well.”

“……”

“To give a brief explanation of Duke Mihael — it is said that a divine blessing was bestowed upon the founder of the house, and all those who are of legitimate birth in Teor carry names ending in ‘el.’ What is interesting is that carrying the duke’s blood alone does not make one a legitimate heir. The one who may receive the ‘el’ is said to be only the first son born between Duke Mihael and his lawfully wedded wife. And the name of the current sole legitimate heir is Luciel Lucan Mihael.”

Luciel Lucan Mihael… Lea murmured the name softly under her breath. Since she had only known the Luciel she met in the Kingdom of Hamel by first name, she could not say with certainty that the Luciel Lucan Mihael MacLean spoke of was the same person. Yet strangely, her instincts were telling her they were one and the same.

Well, his etiquette was that of a high-ranking noble. It’s no wonder even the fastidious Lark praised him.

Lost in thought, Lea’s face hardened at MacLean’s next words.

“By the way, my lady. This is not confirmed intelligence, but there is information suggesting that the Mihael ducal house has ties to them.”

“Luciel… is connected to them…?”

“To be precise, it is not the legitimate heir Luciel Lucan Mihael himself, but his uncle, Cheor Lucan Mihael.”

After all, Cheor Lucan Mihael is the true power behind the Mihael ducal house at present, MacLean added. By the time he had shared all the information he knew about the Mihael ducal house, night had already fallen.

After asking MacLean one last thing — to look for Berchel without drawing attention — Lea sent him on his way. As she climbed the stairs back to her room, she found herself recalling the times Berchel had expressed his dissatisfaction with the leadership.

It’s quite understandable now…

According to what MacLean had told her, Luciel had been only five years old when the 24th Duke Mihael had died suddenly at the age of twenty-eight. Because of this, with the consent of the council of elders, it was decided that the legitimate heir would formally inherit the dukedom upon coming of age, and a brother of Duke Mihael was made regent in the interim.

That person was Cheor Lucan Mihael… the late Duke Mihael’s half-brother… Lea committed the name Cheor Lucan Mihael to a corner of her memory. As MacLean had said, he was Luciel’s enemy.

They say he had always been a man consumed by jealousy toward his half-brother and self-loathing. That he began, over many years, quietly eliminating or expelling from the family those forces loyal to his nephew, all in his desire to seize the dukedom… And that for the past several years, he had joined hands with them and begun moving openly to bring the ducal house completely under his thumb…

Half-blood or not, they are still family — how heartless…

If only Teor’s age of majority were seventeen, like in the Yurasen Empire, Luciel would have already inherited the dukedom. But Teor’s age of majority was twenty, she’d been told. There was still a year left… The light in Lea’s eyes cooled and settled into something cold. As she always felt — human greed knows no end. Why were there so many people coveting positions that were never theirs to begin with?

Feeling a bitter taste in her heart, Lea arrived at her room, opened the door, and stepped inside. And she stopped dead in her tracks at the completely unexpected sight before her.

What is going on here?

Her eyes wavered slightly at the scene she had never anticipated. It was not surprising that Abel was in her room — just as she could visit him at any time, so too could he come to her without warning. But why was Ian holding a sword to Abel’s throat, and who on earth was the bloodied man being held by the scruff of his neck in Abel’s hand?

“…Can someone explain this situation to me?”

Lea let out a sigh and asked. Ian, tense and glaring at Abel, slowly opened his mouth.

“This person broke into your room without permission, carrying a body.”

“…He’s not dead yet. And Lea doesn’t mind that sort of thing.”

He was speaking with the corners of his eyes curved gently, but Lea could tell that Abel was irritated.

“No matter that he is your friend, my lady — entering your room uninvited at this hour is an act of rudeness.”

“So why should I have to answer to your judgment about that?”

Now even the corners of his lips were curving softly. As always, when Abel smiled, it was truly radiant and lovely — but this was no time for such sentiments. Abel’s kindness applied only to her, and so she needed to rescue Ian quickly before Abel lost his patience.

“Ian. Put away your sword. Abel is the most precious friend I have in this world.”

“……..”

“Nothing will happen, so don’t worry — please step aside.”

“But, my lady…”

“Ian.”

At Lea’s firm gaze, Ian reluctantly sheathed his sword and disappeared from the room.

“Quite a devoted knight escort.”

For a moment I thought about eliminating him. A mere human, daring to put a blade to my body. But thinking about it differently, it was entirely appropriate behavior for a knight escort. So he decided to let it go. Lea also seemed quite fond of her knight. As if reading Abel’s thoughts, Lea smiled with a troubled expression and apologized.

“Sorry. Ian is a bit rigid. But who is that man?”

As her gaze fell upon the half-corpse of the man, Abel glanced down at the man he was holding with an indifferent look, then dropped him with a thud as casually as setting down a piece of luggage, and answered. Even so, his voice remained soft.

“The man you gave my artifact to.”

At the word artifact, Lea’s eyes went wide. In her memory, there was only one person she had ever given a magical artifact made by Abel to.

“Berchel?!!”

Only then recognizing Berchel, Lea rushed urgently toward him.